Submitted by Kevin Roberts of Punta Sayulita
On June 18th, the Sayulita (Mexico) chapter of Reef Check performed its first quarterly survey on the reefs at the Marietas Islands. The reefs are located in the waters off Puerto Vallarta, about 12 miles south of Sayulita. The Marietas Islands survey site is a government-protected environmental zone and it hosts the most abundant amount of coral in the Banderas Bay. This is the same location where Reef Check’s Executive Director Dr. Gregor Hodgson performed an EcoDiver training course last year, generously sponsored by the Punta Sayulita Foundation. Dr. Adrian Maldonado, a marine biologist and member of the Sayulita EcoDiver program, will be presenting the data gathered in the Sayulita survey, as well as the monitoring protocol established by Reef Check, at the Mexican Congress for Coral Reefs in Ensenada, Baja California Sur, on August 24 – 26. For more information on Reef Check Sayulita, contact Kevin Roberts.